6  A softball player since the age of 5, Kali Pugh began playing field hockey in sixth grade at the insistence of her mother.

Beth Drackin had played field hockey as a child in Amherst, Mass., so it was only a matter of time before her daughter was exposed to it.

When she took up field hockey, Pugh threw herself into it so completely that her middle school coach, Kaci Bronson, knew it wouldn’t be long before she was on the varsity team at Rancho Buena Vista High, which Bronson also coached.

Bronson was right.

“She comes by the sport naturally,” Bronson said. “When she was in ninth grade, it was obvious her skill level and her maturity were ready for the jump to varsity.

“Unlike a lot of girls who experience success early, Kali has not peaked yet. She’s improved every year at RBV. She works hard at getting better every day.”

Now as a senior at RBV, the sturdy 5-foot-7 Pugh continues to generate excitement every time she touches the ball, even though she plays defense.

Pugh is not the normal center defender. On short corners, she’s involved in the attack. And if she gets the ball on defense, it won’t take her long to run to the offensive end with one thought in mind — scoring a goal.

“Sometimes I wish I played midfield, but that’s a lot of running,” said Pugh, 17. “I kind of like my little spot on defense because it gives me the freedom to roll in on defense as an extra attacker.”

Pugh plays with little regard for her own health or that of her opponents. Get in the way, and you’ll probably pay a steep price.

“I had two older brothers, so I’m not afraid of contact,” Pugh said. “It makes people around me mad when someone gets knocked down. The rule says both the offensive and defensive players are supposed to avoid contact. Any accidental contact, the ball goes to the offensive player.

“People think I’m a bully when I knock someone down. It happens. I don’t let it get to me.’’

In an Avocado West League home game against La Costa Canyon last week, Pugh was making one of her numerous assaults on the net. Her shot, which wound up being the insurance goal in a 3-1 victory, shocked most onlookers.

While she was running toward the east sideline, Pugh slammed a reverse-stick shot that whistled past all of the defenders and the Mavericks goalie and struck inside the cage so hard that the ball ricocheted back out as if it had struck the goalpost.

“That was one of the most amazing goals I’ve ever seen,” said Bronson, who played for the Longhorns. “Last year, she took a shot that broke through the wood part of the cage. She broke the goal, and we had to order new ones.”

Pugh shrugged off that goal as just being part of her arsenal.

“I really like my reverse stick,’’ Pugh said. “I used to practice that shot by hitting balls against the curb in front of our house for hours.

“I had that shot, and most players don’t see many people taking that shot, so I took it. I couldn’t have hit that one any better. Normally, I’ll top it and it will go about an inch. That one was perfect.”

Pugh has only a few games left in a career that will leave a mark for future Longhorns to follow.

“I think she’s the best field hockey player we’ve ever had here,” Bronson said. “Unlike a lot of girls, she has not peaked yet. She works to get better all the time.

“She always seems to have two or three defenders on her, but she gets around them. I am sure glad we don’t have to defend against her.”